Proctor & Gamble Must "Refuse To Be Taken Hostage By The Extreme Anti-Government Fringe"

One day after "tea party" activists called for boycotting Proctor and Gamble for its sponsorship of MSNBC's "Hardball" -- boycotts prompted by the MSNBC documentary "Rise of the New Right" -- it's not clear whether the boycott is having any effect. Proctor and Gamble has not responded to the effort yet (I've asked). The first response I see comes from Eric Burns of Media Matters, whose presence in the documentary irritated activists, and who has put out a statement challenging Proctor and Gamble to "refuse to be taken hostage by the extreme anti-government fringe."

Media Matters Action Network and PoliticalCorrection.org president Eric Burns released the following statement urging
Proctor & Gamble to hold firm against attacks by the right wing fringe:

MSNBC used footage of actual tea
party rallies and featured interviews with conservatives and tea party figures to
illustrate the reality of the movement. If
they feel viewers were left with the impression their movement is angry,
violent, and extreme, they have no one to blame but themselves.

Dick Armey is a seasoned Washington operator who
is certainly aware of the tea party's ugly underbelly. There's a reason he urged conservative
candidates to flock to Fox News, the tea party's biggest cheerleaders. He doesn't want the movement's true nature
exposed.

Proctor and Gamble must refuse to
be taken hostage by the extreme anti-government fringe. Folding to their demands is a tacit
endorsement of the angry, hysterical, and often racist views of the tea
partiers.

Rather than attack MSNBC for
practicing journalism and presenting the facts, tea partiers should take a step
back and take a hard look at themselves in the mirror.